the benefits for and the pressures on First Nations sportswomen

Cathy Freeman walking a lap of honour at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games with both Aboriginal and Australian flags. Dean Lewins/AAP^[10]

Competitors at this year’s Commonwealth Games were allowed to take a knee or display a symbol in solidarity with a cause, after organisers unveiled a revised set of “guiding principles^[11]” for athlete advocacy.

Considered sporting advocates and ambassadors one day, and too political^[12] the next, Freeman’s experience demonstrates how Indigenous athletes are always carrying the weight of the politics^[13] around their identity.

Read more: Our national anthem is non-inclusive: Indigenous Australians shouldn't have to sing it^[14]

Inspirational role models giving back

In 1958, Adnyamathanha woman Faith (Coulthard) Thomas became the first^[15] (and until 2019, the only) Indigenous woman to represent Australia in cricket. Thomas was highly critical of the sport’s racial and gender inequities and had no qualms in calling them out^[16].

Ashleigh Gardner bats during the women’s cricket at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Manish Swarup/AAP^[17]

Following in Thomas’s footsteps, and a key member of the Australian women’s cricket team at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Ashleigh Gardner is only the second female Indigenous cricket player to represent Australia on the international stage. A Muruwari woman, she has created her own foundation^[18] which links sport, health and education.

The power and influence of Gardner and other Indigenous female athletes’ advocacy and commitment to taking back to community is perhaps best summed up by Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney^[19]. Burney states:

It is not so much about the physical athleticism itself, as it is about what those sporting achievements represent and the valuable lessons they have for our young people in fields beyond sport: discipline, persistence, unity, strength and dignity.

Read more: Sit on hands or take a stand: why athletes have always been political players^[20]

Being the ‘only one’ can often lead to burnout

Netball Australia has struggled to recruit First Nations players – Noongar netballer Donnell Wallam, who played at the Birmingham games, was the first Indigenous player in 32 years to represent the Diamonds at a Commonwealth Games. The sports governing body recently announced a commitment^[21] to breaking down the barriers that prevent Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people from reaching their full potential in the sport.

Donnell Wallam. Jason O'Brien/AAP^[22]

In 2020, Netball Australia held its first Indigenous Round. Jemma MiMi, having only just discovered she was First Nations, was the only identified Indigenous player in the round. Despite being essentially the face of the round’s marketing campaign, the Queensland Firebirds did not select MiMi for the game^[23], prompting accusations^[24] the Indigenous round was purely tokenistic.

This is work that both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people need to share. It involves truth-telling and taking responsibility for past injustices that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people continue to face as a result of oppression through ongoing colonisation. The shame that Australia has placed on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people belongs to the colonisers, so let’s not wait till 2026 to dismantle it.

Read more https://theconversation.com/you-cant-be-what-you-cant-see-the-benefits-for-and-the-pressures-on-first-nations-sportswomen-188224